GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Lenoir-Rhyne University defeated Tusculum University 19-7 in South Atlantic Conference women’s lacrosse Wednesday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Jillian Daley led the Bears (6-6, 6-1 SAC) with four goals, with three goals and two assists for Kirra Olson and two goals and three assists from Abbey Walker. Jessica Mikesell scored three times for the Bears, who scored 11 straight goals from the first to the third quarter after the teams were tied 3-3.
Laura Nance Pickens and Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg had two goals apiece for the Pioneers (6-6, 2-3 SAC), with a goal apiece for Marissa Fink, Liberty Jones and Mya Halladay and four assists from Elisha Stack.
Lenoir-Rhyne outshot Tusculum 42-20 in the match and had a 17-11 edge in draw controls. Hailey Larsen had nine draw controls for the Bears and also contributed two goals and an assist on offense.
Tusculum went up 1-0 after two minutes on a goal from Jones, but two goals from Mikesell and one from Savannah Stallings gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 3-1 lead with 8:50 left in the first quarter. The Pioneers took advantage of a yellow card issued to the Bears, with Halladay and Fink scoring just over a minute apart to tie the game at 3-3 with 3:31 left in the first quarter.
Lenoir-Rhyne would score three goals in the final two minutes of the first quarter, and tack on six goals in the second quarter to go up 12-3 at halftime. The Bears would stretch their lead to 14-3 before Pickens scored with 10:55 left in the third quarter. Lenoir-Rhyne would lead 19-5 with seven minutes left, with Tusculum closing the scoring on goals from Carolin-Vandenberg with 4:42 left and Pickens with 2:12 to go.
Tusculum finished with 15 turnovers in the match while Lenoir-Rhyne turned the ball over 11 times. The Bears had a 16-14 ground ball advantage over the Pioneers, led by Addie Hale with three. Kayla Nuccio had a team-high three ground balls for the Pioneers, with two caused turnovers apiece for Carolin-Vandenberg and Celeste Raya.
Emily White finished with six saves in the first half for the Pioneers, with Emery Dove adding nine stops in the second half. Sally Friesen made three saves in the first three quarters for the Bears, with two saves in the fourth quarter by Mckenzie Walsh.
Tusculum will play its final five matches of the regular season on the road, starting Saturday, April 4 at Catawba beginning at 4 p.m.
